If I Wrote Degrassi Episodes
by only here in your arms
Summary: This will be where I post episodic type stories. Defying Gravity pt. 1 is up: Marisol's parents want her to go to their alma mater but she has her own college plans. Connor is paired up with a new lab partner who he quickly crushes on but there's one problem: their height differences. Luke goes in search for an English tutor to ace his final exam to avoid repeating Grade 11 English
1. I'll Stand By You pt 1

**I decided to try out this format. It's like writing my own Degrassi episode and I really enjoyed this. I usually don't write for characters other than Eclare so getting into the minds of Maya, Katie, Owen, and Tristan was really fun. So this kinda follows a Degrassi episode. The storylines switch back and forth but the A plot is Eclare, B plot is Maya, and C plot is Owen. I don't know where this would be in the Degrassi universe, sometime after Showdown I guess.**

**Tell me if you guys liked it or not! Thanks for reading and please review!**

* * *

As Clare walks to school on a sunny April morning, she is unaware of her surroundings other than the perfectly breezy weather, nice enough for her to wear the new, cute dress she bought with Eli in mind, and doesn't realize that a car was tailing her for an entire ten minutes. But a honk startled Clare, causing her to jump and turn, and in the car was Eli, a bright grin on his face.

Eli pokes his head out of the window and Clare finally finds her voice to shout, "Eli! Not funny!"

"I'm sorry! You looked too peaceful to disturb," Eli answers. His smile is still prominent on his lips. "Like the new ride?"

Clare was so startled that she didn't even realize that Eli was driving a brand new car. "Oh my gosh, Eli! You got a car?"

"I did," Eli says happily. "Hop in, I'll tell you all about it on our way to school. Oh, you look nice by the way."

Clare blushes to herself as she climbs into the passenger seat. She takes a look around the interior as Eli begins to drive. "It looks brand new," she comments.

"Yeah, Cece and Bullfrog said that I'll need a new car if I'm gonna be so far away so they surprised me with it. Well actually, they didn't surprise me. I found the paper work on the kitchen counter and they told me they were waiting for graduation to give it to me but since I already know about it, there was no reason for me to not have it now," Eli says. "Need to get used to Chuck before NYU."

"Chuck? You've named it already?" Clare asks. Eli nods. "Why Chuck?"

"For our first date," Eli looks over at Clare, who's face softens. "I'll never forget it. Not because we got to see Chuck Palahnuik but because it was the first thing we did together."

"That's so nice, Eli," Clare leans her head against the headrest as she looks at him.

"Plus, it's gonna be something that reminds me of you while I'm at NYU," Eli says excitedly.

Clare's expression goes from happy to sad. "Right," she says in a disappointed tone, though Eli is oblivious to it. Eli continues to drive with a happy smile on his face and Clare turns to face her window. "NYU."

* * *

Maya, on a high from coming from band practice during her free block, happily sits down at a free lunch table with her bagged lunch of favorite food; a turkey and mayo sandwich, veggie straws, and fruit juice. When she begins to dig into her lunch, from the corner of eye she sees a couple intensely making out at a lunch table, though lunch seemed completely ignored by them.

Maya scoffs disgusted and angrily bites a piece of her sandwich. Cam approaches the table, a smile on his face, and sits down across from his girlfriend. Maya's eyes are on the couple though and she bites the sandwich menacingly again.

"Gross sandwich?" Cam jokes upon seeing Maya's angry expression.

"No, that," Maya points her sandwich and Cam looks over his shoulder. "That's gross."

"What? Making out?" Cam asks teasingly.

"No, not making out," Maya blushes. "But the fact that they're doing it here. This is school, not the bedroom."

"Gotta agree with you there," Cam says as he unpacks his lunch. "Didn't see this much PDA at my old school. Also haven't heard so many pregnancy stories. That's all these two girls were talking about during class today."

Maya rolls her eyes and sets her sandwich down. "People should really find better things to do with their time."

Cam laughs and shakes his head, continuing to eat his lunch as Maya continues to glare at the couple across the room.

* * *

Once the final bell rings, Clare says her goodbye to Eli in front of the gym where drama club was having a meeting. After a quick kiss and a wave, Clare meets up with Alli at the end of the hallway and the two go on their way to Clare's house. The silence makes Alli tug on Clare's arm, who seems to be in a world of her own.

"What's wrong?" Alli asks.

"It's Eli," Clare sighs.

"You guys have been doing so well, what—"

"No Alli," Clare says. "Not me and Eli. Eli's going to NYU in the Fall."

"I know, I'm so excited for him," Alli says sincerely. "But why aren't you?"

"I am, I swear," Clare tells her. "It's just…it's so far away."

"Ah," Alli tilts her head back and says the word for a few seconds for emphasis. "Now I get it."

"Alli, what if this breaks us up?" Clare says worriedly. "He might not want to be tied down when we're so far apart."

"Clare, why don't you talk to him about it?" Alli suggests.

"I can't," Clare says honestly. "He's so excited, I don't want to put a damper on it."

"Complaining about it won't do anything either," Alli says. "Come on, you two have come a long way. You should be able to talk about it."

When Clare says nothing but pouts, Alli turns them both to a different direction. "Come on, we're going to The Dot and I'll buy you whatever dessert you want. You need a pick me up."

"I don't need a pick me up," Clare pouts. "I just hope Eli doesn't go."

Clare's head falls to Alli's shoulder and Alli wraps an arm around her best friend, leading her to The Dot.

* * *

At the Milligan house, Tristan sits in front of the living room TV and watches a rerun of Westdrive when he hears Owen's voice in the other room.

"…_so do you wanna…I don't know, get a bite to eat, maybe Friday night? You do? Great! Uh, I'll pick you up at 7? Okay, I'll see you then."_

Tristan smirks as he overhears Owen asking out a girl and when Owen walks into the living room, Tristan continues to smirk.

Owen though, is not pleased. "You heard that, didn't you?"

"Didn't know you could sound like an actual gentleman," Tristan teases. "So you and Anya are officially done?"

Owen looks as if he wants to get out of the room quickly but surrenders, sits down beside Tristan and takes a handful of the chips from the bowl on the coffee table.

"Yeah, got an email from her a few days ago. She says she didn't want to be holding me back during senior year so yeah," Owen sighs. "What's this garbage you're watching?"

"So who's the girl?" Tristan asks, changing the subject back.

"Some girl," Owen shrugs.

"Owen, _please_ tell me you actually know this girl's name!"

"I do!" Owen says defensively. "Gwen."

"Owen and Gwen," Tristan says and fathoms combining the two together. "Gwowen. Ogwen."

"Tris, stop," Owen says. "She's actually really cool. I met her at one of our games."

"Hockey fan, that's a point," Tristan says. "How old?"

"She's a senior too," Owen tells him. "But goes to Bardell."

"And she's nice?" Tristan asks.

"Yeah, really nice," Owen admits, reaching over for more chips.

"So what's the problem?" Tristan says.

"What makes you think there's a problem?" Owen says with a mouth full of food.

"Because you don't usually hang out with me and watch Westdrive unless you have a problem," Tristan says slowly. Owen observes their situation, where he was sitting, what he was watching, and stands up quickly, walking away awkwardly, leaving Tristan to laugh.

* * *

Maya, in her bedroom, multitasks as she does her homework and chats on Facerange with Cam. Alternating between English homework and discussing the episode of Game of Thrones the two watched together, Maya was enjoying her afternoon of relaxing. But when she hears Katie's loud music through the wall, Maya looks up and rolls her eyes. She stands from her chair and bangs on the wall.

When the volume of the music doesn't go down, Maya quickly types a "BRB" to Cam and walks to Katie's room, not bothering to knock, but quickly wishes she did.

On Katie's bed is Jake, shirtless, and Katie, thankfully with her clothes on. "Maya!" Katie shrieks, pushing Jake off of her, onto the floor.

Maya closes the door in a haste, but not before hearing a pained groan from Jake. Maya's eyes are still wide at what she witnessed, says a high pitched "oh my god!" and runs down the stairs. Katie opens her door, looking for Maya, but she hears the front door open and close. Katie sighs and looks over to Jake, who was sitting on the floor with his back against the bed.

"Guess I'm not making a good impression on Maya," Jake jokes. Katie smiles sadly before going over to turn down the music.

* * *

The following day at school, Clare finds Eli at the gym before school started and sees him near the stage, looking at his clipboard.

"Just bring up the subject," Clare whispers to herself. "You can talk to him about anything. He won't get mad." Clare seems to convince herself and walks over to Eli.

"Good morning," Eli says to her, leaning down for a quick kiss.

"Hey, what're you doing?" Clare asks.

"Oh, looking at NYU housing," Eli replies. He sits up on the stage and pats on the spot next to him for Clare to sit. "Don't know if it's mandatory for freshmen to live on campus or if I can get my own place so I'm looking into it."

"Oh," Clare says slowly and looks away.

"Hey, are you okay?" Eli asks her.

"Yeah, just…worried about exams," Clare lies. She realizes how pointless it would be for her to bring up for NYU woes to Eli when he's already planning his living arrangements and decides to let the matter go.

"Exams aren't for a while," Eli assures her. "You'll do great on them. Besides, I'll help you study for your French one." Eli winks, pulls her onto her feet, and puts his arm over her shoulders. Clare can't help but smile but her smile turns to a forced one when they leave the gym.

* * *

"Maya! MAYA! Come on, I know you're avoiding me but we need to talk!" Katie runs after Maya in the hallway, who is adamant to avoid her older sister. Maya turns a corner and smiles when she finds Cam and goes over to him.

"Quick, find an escape route for me," she says to Cam.

"Find what?" Cam asked confused.

"Excuse me," Katie says behind the couple. "Campbell, may I have a word with my sister?"

"Of course," Cam, still confused, just looks at the Matlin sisters strangely and walks away.

Katie crosses her arms and raises her brows. "So?"

"Katie, I don't want to talk about this here," Maya whines.

"Maya, what you saw is normal," Katie assures her. "You can't hide from this topic forever. Look, we weren't going to have sex but—"

"Lalalalala!" Maya plugs her ears and shuts her eyes, not wanting to hear anymore.

"Maya!" Katie pulls Maya's hands away from her ears. "You're being a child. You're gonna have to hear about this sooner or later!"

"Later is my preferred choice!" Maya tries to walk away but Katie manages to block her.

"Would you rather get all embarrassed during a sex ed class when you're around your friends and a teacher is telling you all this stuff or would you rather hear it from me?" Katie asks her younger sister. Maya contemplates it and sighs in defeat.

"Fine, but not here!" Maya whispers harshly.

Katie smiles. "Tonight, after dinner, okay?"

Maya nods and Katie walks away. Cam strides over to Maya, handing her her backpack that she didn't even notice she dropped. "So are you okay now?" he asks her. "You disappeared on me last night and this was a little weird."

"I'm okay, let's just go to French," Maya takes Cam's hand and the two walk to class.

* * *

In the middle of the French lecture, Tristan's eyes start to glaze over from boredom. His head is propped up on his arm and he pretends to write notes on his notebook but he was so bored and tired that he was already on the verge of sleep. Outside of the room, Owen sees his brother nodding off and before knocking on the door, he looks left and right of the hallway. With the coast clear, he knocks.

"Excuse me," a knock on the door brings Tristan out of his sleep. "I'm sorry to interrupt but can I talk to my brother Tristan? It's important."

The French teacher allows Tristan out of the room. Tristan closes the door behind him and says, "Thank you for getting me out of there. I probably would've started snoring."

"No problem but I have to ask you for a favor," Owen says quickly.

"What?" Tristan asks confused.

Owen looks down the hallway again and bites his lip. "Do not tell anyone I asked you this."

"Fine," Tristan says. "What do you need?"

"I need you to help…" Owen cringes before continuing. "Help dress me for my date."

Tristan bursts out laughing, causing Owen to put a hand over his mouth. Tristan continues to laugh in a muffled way and closes his eyes, unable to control the laughter.

"Okay, okay," Owen says. "Stop it already. I'll pay you if you want."

"Oh no, you don't need to pay me," Tristan assures him. "Having the opportunity to do this makes it all worth it. We can go to the mall after school."

"Wait, people will see us at the mall," Owen says.

"Well I sure as hell won't be using your own closet to dress you," Tristan replies, causing Owen to roll his eyes. "Do you trust me enough to just go to the mall myself to find you clothes that you won't hate?"

Owen makes a weird face. "Yeah…I-I guess. Nothing too…not me, okay?"

"Have faith in me bro, I have you covered," Tristan puts a hand on Owen's shoulder. When he makes his way back into the classroom, the bell rings signaling the end of the period. "Oh thank goodness!" Tristan exclaims. Owen shakes his head laughing and walks away.

* * *

Clare walks out of school, already seeing Eli at their usual spot. "Do you mind if we postpone our movie date?" Eli asks once the two made their way to Eli's car.

"That's okay," Clare answers. "I have a ton of math homework anyways."

"Good, well, not that you have homework but I have family dinner tonight," Eli opens Clare's door for her and when he gets into his side of the car, Clare asks, "Don't you have family dinner every night?"

"Bullfrog texted me saying it's an important one," Eli answers while he drives away from the parking lot. "I think we're talking about my living situation at NYU, Cece's all worried that I might not like my roommate if I have to dorm."

"Oh," Clare says, looking out the window.

"Okay, something's been bothering you," Eli says as a fact. "You've been acting like this for a while."

"Like what?" Clare asks.

"I don't know, uninterested, bored, just different," he answers. "Everything okay at home?"

"Everything's fine at home," Clare replies. "I just—"

Eli waits for an answer as he pulls up to Clare's house, parking on the side. "It's NYU," Clare finally says.

"What about it?" Eli asks.

"It's so far away," Clare comments. "And I know you're excited and you worked really hard to get in and I'm really happy that you did, but…it's so far away."

"It is," Eli nods. "Are you worried that me going to New York will change us? Because I thought you had more faith in us than that."

"I do! But Eli, be realistic here. Long distance relationship? We've never been apart for that much of a distance ever since you first visited New York during break and we weren't together then. Now that we're together, it's going to change everything. What if we start fighting or getting annoyed with each other? You saw 'Like Crazy.' It wasn't that good of a movie but it showed how a relationship can deteriorate with too much distance. I don't want that to happen to us!"

"Well they did end up getting back together in the end," Eli mumbles.

"You're not taking me seriously," Clare whines. She makes the move to leave the car but Eli locks her in.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I get what you're coming from but Clare…NYU is my dream," Eli takes Clare's hand between his. "But you're my dream too. We can make this work. Sure, we may have our moments when we're busy and can't coordinate schedules and talk but we're strong. Stronger than we've ever been. And at least we're still going to be in the same time zone."

This makes Clare smile. "Are you sure?"

"That we're in the same time zone, yeah I'm positive."

"I mean that we'll make it work?"

"All in," Eli takes his hand from Clare's and moves it as if to shake her hand. "You all in?"

"All in," Clare nods and shakes his hand.

* * *

Katie closes her bedroom door as Maya sits on her bed. The younger Matlin looks down at her hands, picking at her fingernails, and doesn't look up when Katie clears her throat.

"Maya, if we're gonna talk about sex then you should look at me at least," Katie says.

"Can we not?" Maya whines, her head falling back and her face scrunching up.

"Fine," Katie says, making Maya look over. "We're just gonna talk about you and Cam."

"No," Maya whines again.

"Have you two went further than just quick kisses?" Katie pries, making Maya fall back on the bed.

"Katie, stop!"

"So you have?"

"No!"

"Never made out?"

"No," Maya answers. "Just seems a little distasteful."

"You might change your mind when you actually have time together," Katie laughs. "You never hang out outside of school. Only in school or you talk on Facerange. That's hardly a relationship."

"It's working fine so far," Maya defends herself.

"Well, when you two are hanging out somewhere alone, maybe here or at his house, the thought's going to cross your mind to do more than kissing," Katie says. "And I'm not saying it's sex, I just want you to know what's going on when it happens."

"Have you had sex?" Maya asks.

"Yes," Katie says with difficulty. "There's just one thing you need to know. Make sure that when you think you're ready to have sex, that it's someone you love and loves you back."

"I don't even wanna make out with someone, I'm not thinking about sex," Maya cringes.

"Well, when you start thinking about it, just remember what I said okay?"

"Okay," Maya nods. "Can I leave now?"

"Nope! Now let's talk about…"

* * *

"We finally talked about it Alli," Clare says with a happy relief over the phone. "He says we're going to be fine and I believe it. Relationships aren't meant to be easy so we're gonna work for it…no, it wasn't that hard…I get it Alli, you were right."

Clare smiles as she listens to Alli but when her phone buzzed, she looked to see that it was Eli calling. "Hey Alli, Eli's on the other line. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" Clare switches calls and says, "Hey, how was your dinner?"

"It was…um…" Clare could tell by the sound of Eli's voice that things were wrong.

"Eli, what's going on?" she asks terrified.

"It's Bullfrog, he's…he's sick," Eli admits with difficulty.

"Sick…" Clare trails off and it finally registers. "As in…"

"Cancer, he has cancer."


	2. I'll Stand By You pt 2

**"Eli's NYU future is up in the air with the news that changes his family forever. As the sex ed talks continue, Maya is inadvertently humiliated. When Owen realizes his date was a success, he asks Tristan for more help but is it going too far?"**

**Yes, this took forever! But forgive me, I've started classes but I have been writing one shots more and more so if you haven't read those, please check them out. I think you'll like them.**

**This is I'll Stand By You pt. 2, the second episode/part that accompanies the first part. I've changed the title of this so I can just add my Degrassi-like "episodes" here too.**

**Hope you like it! Follow me on Twitter (hereinyourarms_) or Tumblr (returntomemysunandstars) ****If you have suggestions for more Degrassi "episodes" like this one, _please let me know_! Any characters and plots you would like to see! Just as long as they make sense...**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

* * *

The sun is bright showing through the window of Eli's room but he doesn't wake up to it. His face looks tired even while sleeping and when he is woken up by the ringing on his phone, that definitely doesn't help his mood. He reaches over for his phone blindly and checks the caller ID first before answering. "Hey Clare," he says with 'morning voice.' "I'm sorry but I don't think I'm going to school today."

"I understand," Clare says. "And I thought so. But I'm outside your house right now, I was hoping I could see you before I go to school since I haven't seen you in two days."

"I'm coming down now," Eli says before putting his phone back. He manages to find a shirt and puts it on while walking down the stairs and to the front door. When he opens it there standing is Clare, a worried look on her face.

"Hey," he tries to smile. "I'm glad you came."

"I would've come over during the weekend but I was thinking that maybe you and your parents needed some time alone," Clare replies hesitantly. "And I'm sorry for waking you up, I didn't want to ring the doorbell in case someone was sleeping."

Eli opens his arms out and Clare walks into them quickly, giving him a very tight and supportive hug. "Pretty sure you're the only person in the world that can ring the doorbell anytime during the day or night and they'd invite you in without a hesitation."

This makes Clare laugh, finally making Eli crack a genuine smile. "I'll be at school tomorrow," Eli says, still hugging Clare. "I promise. So you don't have to miss me so much."

"I'm sure Simpson won't mind if you—"

"If I miss much more classes after taking that time off after Love Roulette, NYU's probably going to take back my acceptance rather than me doing it for them," Eli laughs but Clare pulls back, confused.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" she asks unsure.

"I'm not going to NYU," Eli tells her seriously.

"You're deferring for a year or…"

"No," he shakes his head. "I'm not going there at all. I'm staying here."

Clare could sense Eli's disappointment underneath his serious, unwavering tone. His eyes said his true emotion. Before Clare could say anything in return, Eli kissed her cheek and wished her a good day at school. He walked back into the house without another word, leaving Clare devastated even more so than she did when she came.

* * *

"Tris! Hey Tris, wait up!"

Tristan stopped just a few feet short of his locker to turn around, surprised that Owen was actually approaching him. And to make the situation even more surprising, Owen had a huge smile on his face instead of the 'I'm not his brother' look when they were in public together.

"Dude, I took your advice about not calling or texting Gwen for a few days after the date and it worked!" Owen says happily. "She just texted me asking if we could go out again."

"I guess actually talking to me before you go out on a date helps," Tristan teases. "But in all seriousness, that's great news. Does this mean you'll be out of the house more often?"

"Hey, the only time I'm actually home is if hockey practice is cancelled," Owen says. "But speaking off talking to you before a date, maybe you could help me out again?"

Out of the corner of his eye he could see a few people walking by staring at the two brothers, obviously not aware that these physically different guys were related. But Owen isn't paying attention to them. He was waiting for an answer from his brother.

"I guess," Tristan replies. "With what?"

"Well Gwen started talking about West Drive and she asked if I watched it and I said yes. For some reason I knew stuff that she was talking about but not enough to actually really talk about it so…teach me."

"First of all, the reason you know stuff about West Drive is because you _watch_ West Drive," Tristan points out. Owen starts to deny it but Tristan cuts him off. "You know it's true. Sometimes I can hear you watching it in the living room while I'm upstairs. But why would you need my help to teach you? Can't you just watch it?"

"You made those videos about West Drive, you know all about the show, just summarize all that you know so I can be ready for my date in a few days," Owen says.

"You demand like you expect that I'm free," Tristan scoffs. Owen gives him a pleading look, making Tristan groan. "Fine. After dinner or whatever."

"YES! Okay, thanks man, I owe you!" Owen claps him on the back and walks away quickly.

While rubbing his shoulder, Tristan finally opens his locker and starts getting the stuff he needs. Maya walks up to him, a sour look on her face, and with loud movement, opens her locker and slams it closed.

"Someone un-tune your cello?" Tristan jokes, trying to make Maya smile.

"No," Maya bitterly replies. Tristan raises his brows and Maya sighs, her expression softening. "Because I caught Katie making out with Jake, she thinks she should teach me about sex."

Tristan scrunches up his nose, a choking sound coming out of his mouth. "I know your sister's kind of a know-it-all but jeez."

"She spent an hour last night telling me the diseases you can get. I've seen that episode of Grey's Anatomy when George finds out that the nurse he slept with gave him syphilis because she got it from Alex. And then I don't know if it's in the same episode but apparently there was some outbreak of a disease around the hospital because they all practically sleep with each other. I get it, you have sex who's had sex with tons of other people, you're likely to catch something."

Tristan watches Maya in amusement. She was practically shouting in the hallway unknowingly. But then once she calmed down, she sees that a lot of the people still lingering in the hallway was staring at her. Maya grabs Tristan's arm and pulls him. Mumbling under her breath she says, "Let's just go to class."

* * *

Eli spent his morning not at school but on his computer, looking up local colleges he can attend next fall. Thankfully he did apply to a bunch of them at the same time he applied to NYU. University of Toronto, Ryerson, York. Any of these would be a good enough place for him to go to instead of going all the way to New York.

But as he realized the tuition costs for all of them, he knew that spending that much money right now with Bullfrog going into treatment was not a good choice.

His eyes scanned the expenses page of each of the websites, seeing the 5 digit numbers over and over again, and he sometimes paused when he heard Bullfrog's voice outside of his room.

Putting NYU aside was easy. It was the distance that made that decision easy. But now, looking at the average cost of just _one _year in each university, putting aside college completely was now looking to be what he would do.

He searched average costs of medical expenses for a cancer patient. Health insurance could only do so much and when Eli saw that huge number on the screen, he clasped his hands together and held it under his chin.

"_Kid, we have to tell you something," Bullfrog's voice going serious instead of his usual light one._

"_Okay," Eli said, putting his fork down._

"_I went to the doctor a few days ago for some tests and they found that…" Bullfrog couldn't finish the sentence so he looked to Cece to continue for him._

"_Eli, honey, Bullfrog has cancer."_

_Eli could feel himself getting heavier on the inside as if all of his organs have suddenly decided to weigh more than they usually do. "How…what—"_

"_They caught it early so that's good," Bullfrog assured him. "98 percent diagnosed early with prostate cancer live."_

"_There's that 2 percent…" Eli said softly._

"_We have to stay strong, okay?" Cece reached for his hand and Eli held onto it for dear life._

Eli shut his laptop and sat back in his chair, putting his hands over his mouth to have them muffle his scream.

* * *

"Maya!"

A knock came on Maya's door and the sound of Katie's voice behind it made her roll her eyes. She was not in the mood to continue with this lesson, especially with Tori in her room doing homework as well. She opens the door nonetheless and Katie walks in holding a plastic bag.

"Oh no," Maya's eyes widen as Katie dumps the contents of the bag onto her bed.

"Oh, Tori you're here. This'll be less awkward then. You both have to know how to—"

"KATIE. STOP!"

"—roll a condom on because there's a chance, well actually it's very likely that whoever you'll have sex with won't because guys are idiots when they're about to get laid so—"

Maya walks over to Katie and shakes her. "Katie! You are taking this way too far!"

"Maya, I learned how to do this at your age. Didn't need to put it to use until…well, not going back there but, better to know now!" Katie turns her head to Tori. Extremely red in the face, Tori said absolutely nothing.

"Tori, would you like to join this lesson?" Katie asked seriously.

Maya shook her head left and right in an exaggerated manner behind Katie but Tori looked at Katie and in a low voice she said, "Guess it wouldn't hurt to know."

"Exactly!" Katie exclaims and turns back to Maya. "Come on, better safe than sorry."

Maya watched as Katie started her demonstration with a banana and a small box of condoms and though she tried to tune it out, she paid attention anyways.

* * *

Tristan had an entire whiteboard set up in his bedroom. With Owen sitting on his bed, Tristan was writing down all of the main characters of the current generation on West Drive and then drawing a web of who's been in relationships with who, who's related, who's had a one-night stand, and so on.

"Okay," Tristan clapped his hands once. "Tell me the stuff about West Drive that you and Gwen talked about. Any specific characters? Relationships? Plots? Better to start with those since those seem to be what Gwen likes and a little bit of what you know."

"Well she said her favorite character is Fleur Michaelson," Owen began awkwardly. "Because she's the straightedge one."

"Ah, the one who falls for the bad boys," Tristan recalls. He turns to the board and draws an arrow from Fleur's name to Ben Dalton. "Ben once got into a huge fight and someone ended up dead. It's unsure if he was the reason but yeah, he's like this tortured bad boy with that romantic side. They got together the first time when Ben gets her out of her house when her parents were fighting and they had this epic kiss in the rain."

"Epic kiss, got it," Owen nods. He even started talking notes midway through Tristan's description of Ben and Fleur much to Tristan's amusement.

"I guess this would be a good segway into Fleur's best friend Zoe who's…hmm…how can I describe her. OH, she's like Bianca!"

"_Like Bianca…_wait, what?" Owen paused his note taking.

"Doesn't take any crap, she's kind known for getting guys but she's really smart underneath all of the layers," Tristan explained.

"The fact that this show is getting to be like Degrassi," Owen mumbled under his breath but continued to learn as Tristan talked more about Zoe's relation to Bianca.

* * *

The following day, Eli goes to his locker, happy to see that no one was paying more attention to him. It being Degrassi, he knew that once news got out about anything even remotely sad, random people started showing their pity. But people went about their business.

While he put a few binders into his locker, Clare walks up to him holding something in her hands. "Morning," she says softly. Eli smiles and leans in for a quick kiss. Clare hands him the paper bag. "I made cupcakes last night, couldn't sleep."

Eli couldn't help but smile again at his girlfriend's baking habits. "Hope you made some for Adam. He'd be pissed if you gave some to me and not him."

"I already gave him a few in the media lab," she replies.

"He's there right now? Ms. Oh in there too?"

Clare nods and asks, "Why?"

Eli closes his locker and takes Clare's hand, leading them both down the hallway. "I need to talk to her about some work opportunities once the year is over," Eli tells her. "Hopefully something that's actually interesting."

"Work opportunities?" Clare questioned. "Why?"

"To work," Eli replies sarcastically. "Get money."

"I thought you'd still be going to university even if you weren't going to NYU," Clare says confused.

"Clare," Eli stops them in the middle of the hallway. Clare's face is distraught and upset so Eli puts a hand on her cheek. "With what's going on right now, my education can wait. Bullfrog needs treatment."

"But—"

"But nothing," Eli interrupts. His expression softens and he puts his arm over her shoulders. "Maybe I can go to university the same time as you but I need to think of Bullfrog first. Treatment isn't cheap."

Clare looks as if she wants to protest some more but she sighs and gives up. "Okay," she tries to smile. "I understand."

The two start walking down the hallway again and just as they walk into the media lab, Clare asks, "Can I bring some cupcakes over to Bullfrog?"

Eli sits in front of a computer and pulls Clare to him, her arms immediately wrapping around his neck. With a sincere smile, Eli responds, "He'd love that."

Clare leans down to briefly kiss Eli before stepping back to Eli could call over Ms. Oh. As Clare watches Eli asking Ms. Oh about getting a job, she isn't able to hide the disappointment in her face.

* * *

"Look I completely understand his point of view but it makes me wonder what Bullfrog and Cece think," Clare was telling Adam. Sitting outside for lunch, Clare's food is left untouched while Adam has two cupcake wrappers were on his side of the table.

"Maybe they're the ones who asked him to wait a year?" Adam says with a questioning voice.

"But I don't see that coming from them," Clare replies. "You know Eli, when something happens he immediately changes his own plans no matter if it's the right thing for everyone."

"Clare, we can't just make him decide to go to university when his dad was just diagnosed with cancer. I know you want to help him but we definitely should not pry with this situation," Adam says seriously. "This isn't just something silly that can be resolved."

"I know that," Clare replies. "I know. "

They sit in silence for a while, Clare looking off into space while Adam brings out one of his comics. After a minute Clare mumbles, "Life is so unfair sometimes."

"Don't I know it," Adam stoically says and flips through his comic.

* * *

"I learned so much more from your sister than any of the times my parents tried to talk to me about that stuff or from West Drive or other movies. I wish I had an older sister to teach me all that stuff!"

Maya, visibly trying to block out Tori's voice, flips through her French book instead.

"Now I won't feel weird when I talk to Zig about maybe having—"

"Ew!" Maya shouts too loudly and covers her ears. "Lalalala, don't hear you, don't hear you!"

"Oh please Maya, you're being a child," Tori says, fixing her posture while sitting at her desk.

"And you sound just like Katie," Maya retorts and lowers her voice. "Just because she's doing that and you want to doesn't mean I do. Having to sit through Katie lecturing me about sex is the worst form of torture, especially with how far she's taking it. Giving us both condoms? I mean, what is the point? I'm not going to use it any time soon."

"Better to be safe than sorry," Tori, in a teacher-like manner, says. "And who knows, maybe you and Cam will eventually. Zig and I are getting close to taking out relationship to the next level. But—"

"Tori, stop," Maya begs.

Just as Tori was about to respond, Maya hears someone pass her desk and tripping over her backpack in the process. She knew she didn't have anything valuable in there right now but she looked down to the floor.

"Sorry," a sheepish voice says but Maya isn't paying attention. Suddenly she jumps out of her seat and scrambles to pick up the things that had fallen out of her backpack.

Her pencils, a highlighter, her house key.

And the condom that Katie forced her to take.

Maya could feel her face getting red while she rushed to put the condom back into her bag but the damage was done. It seemed that everyone was now staring at her and gawking at the sight. But the worse was the fact that Cam had managed to silently walk up next to her during the debacle, his mouth open in shock.

"It's not what you think," Maya says to Cam quickly. "It's not, I'm not even thinking about that. Katie, she uh—"

"Maya, let's just sit," Cam says calmly, pulling out her chair for her. Maya sits down completely embarrassed, putting her head on the table and made sure her arms and hair would hide her face from everyone.

* * *

At Little Miss Steaks, Tristan casually looks over his shoulder again to see how Owen's date with Gwen is going. Gwen, a strawberry blonde girl wearing a style that reminded Tristan of Eli's girlfriend's, was very smiley toward Owen and in the genuine way, not the fake way. It made Tristan happy to see his brother happy too and with a girl different from the kind he usually was seen with.

"Niner, you have to order something if you want to keep the table," Marisol says to him nicely.

"Um, a lemonade then," Tristan says quickly. Marisol raises a brow, telling him that's not what she meant. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just watching my brother's date."

"You're chaperoning your older brother's date?" Marisol laughs and turns her head to Owen's direction.

"He just wants it to go well," Tristan defends. "I'll have whatever appetizer you think is best. Can I stay?"

"Yeah sure," Marisol sighs. "There must be some order messed up in the kitchen so I'll bring that out for you. Just as long as I get to watch too."

"Fine," Tristan rolls his eyes. "Thanks."

"PS," Marisol starts walking away but before she's out of sight she says, "That's really nice what you're doing."

* * *

Clare, holding a plastic container of her specialty cupcakes, rings the doorbell at the Goldsworthy house. Bullfrog opens the door much like he usually did when Clare came by. Underdressed and tired from his radio show.

"Clarabelle!" he says happily, mood lightened quickly. "Happy to see you!"

"You too," Clare smiles. "I came to bring you some cupcakes."

"Cupcakes for me?"

"And Cece too," Clare adds. "Eli got his own already."

"You're the best," Bullfrog says. "Speaking of Eli, he's not home."

"Oh," Clare's face drops slightly. "Well, there is something I'd like to talk to you guys about."

"Of course, come on in!" Bullfrog gestures Clare inside the house. Once they both were in the living room Bullfrog shouts, "Cece! Clare's here!"

Cece's squeal could be hear from all the way upstairs and in a matter of no time, Clare is engulfed in a hug. "Why don't you come over more?" Cece questions. "And you brought us sweets? So nice of you!"

"It was no problem," Clare assures them. "There's something I need to talk to you two about."

Cece's face changes into concern. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

"No!" Clare immediately blushes and the two sigh in relief. "It's about Eli."

* * *

"I think you'd really like this store near Eaton Center," Tristan tells Marisol while the two eat nachos. "It just opened up. Called Sprinkle of Glitter. I walked past it with Tori once and I've seen what you wear at school, you'd like it."

"Thanks," Marisol replies. "I'll definitely check it out when I have time."

"So you're student council president, well since Katie was booted, and you work, and you cheer, and you still keep your grades up?"

"Grades are average but yes," Marisol says proudly. "Things don't come easy. You work for it."

Tristan nods and looks over his shoulder again. He sees Gwen giving Owen a hug, a friendly hug rather than an intimate one, and Owen waves her goodbye as she walks out.

"Ouch," Tristan hears Marisol say. "Something must've happened."

"I know," Tristan mumbles sadly.

Owen puts the check back on the table and walks over to Tristan and Marisol's table. Marisol sheepishly leaves, letting Owen take her seat. Owen lets out an exasperated sigh and puts his hands over his face.

"What happened?" Tristan asked in concern.

"Gwen likes Zoe," Owen finally says.

Tristan is confused at first, his face scrunching trying to figure out what that meant. A few seconds pass but it registers. "Okay, she's not a lesbian, she likes Zoe on West Drive. Continue."

"Zoe, who you related to as Bianca," Owen continues.

Tristan shrugs, still not knowing what Owen means.

"So I kept talking about Bianca!" Owen finally clarifies.

Tristan's mouth turns into a perfect 'O.' "Oh."

"Yeah, _oh,_" Owen replies and sits back in his chair. "Talking about another girl on a date. How stupid is that?"

"Extremely," Tristan says honestly. "It's true, you know that."

"I do," Owen rolls his eyes. "Hell, at least I did get a few good dates."

"Yeah, thanks to me," Tristan retorts. "I dressed you, I taught you. I am the reason you had good dates."

"Yeah, yeah," Owen waves him off. "I'll pay you back."

"Leave Marisol a good tip and we'll call it even."

"Marisol? You guys friends now?" Owen asks, surprised.

Tristan shrugs. "Maybe. She's nice. Nicer than people at school make her out to be."

Owen brings out a couple of bills from his wallet and places it on the table. "Come on, let's go home. New West Drive episode right?"

"And you say you don't watch West Drive," Tristan teases. Owen stuffs his hands in his jacket and follows Tristan out of the restaurant, smiling wider than he usually ever does.

* * *

"Cece! Bullfrog! I'm home! Adam just had to keep the game going."

Eli walks into the living room to see his parents sitting on the couch and Clare on the recliner. "What's going on here?" he says confused, going over to stand near Clare.

"Sit down kid, we need to talk," Bullfrog says.

Eli looks towards Clare who can't look him in the eye.

* * *

"Katie, you just had to give me that condom and now everyone in my French class probably thinks I'm some kind of freak!"

"Maya, I didn't tell you to put it in your backpack and I highly doubt Grade 9's will think you're a freak for having sex."

Maya sits up in her bed quickly. "I'm not having sex!"

"I'm just saying, no one but you will think something weird of it," Katie tells her. "You're making sex be this embarrassing thing but it's not."

"Cam probably thinks I'm gonna want to have sex with him soon."

A knock came on Maya's bedroom door. Cam, with the same expression as he had when he first came over to her house, stands there.

"Why does the world hate me?" Maya whines to the ceiling.

"I'll leave you two alone then." Katie skips out of the room as Maya's death glare follows her out. Cam takes a seat beside Maya's laying body and puts his hand on hers.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad," he tells her.

"I hope I didn't get your hopes up," Maya's words were muffled since half her face was pressed against her bed to look at her boyfriend.

"Uh no," he laughs. "You made it clear earlier."

Maya manages to smile and sits up, leaning her head against Cam's shoulder. "I made it a big deal didn't I," she asks. "It wasn't a big deal and I just made it a big deal."

"I guess, though I don't know what the entire situation is," Cam says. "Katie's teaching you about sex?"

"Because I walked in on her and Jake," Maya gags.

"Well I think she just tried to turn the tables on you so you wouldn't ask questions about her and Jake."

Maya picks her head up and realizes that Cam is right. "Did not think of it that way. So that's why Katie was being a tyrant. Because then I wouldn't bug her about her sex life with Jake! Hey Katie!"

Cam laughs as Maya runs out of the room and into Katie's, starting to bombard her with random questions.

* * *

"Eli, we didn't ask you to just put NYU and university aside."

"You didn't have to ask," Eli tells them. He now sat in Clare's seat with Clare standing near the door frame. "We all know how expensive NYU is and—"

"Which is why we started your college fund before you were born," Cece says.

"But we have no idea how much your treatment's going to cost," Eli added. "I won't be able to study at NYU when you guys are here scrounging up for money to pay Bullfrog's latest treatment."

"And I get that kid, I do," Bullfrog replies. "And my point here is, you don't have to completely change your plans for me. Clare didn't come here because of NYU. She came to us because you ruled out university entirely. You can go to college here if you don't want to move away."

Eli runs a hand through his hair. "The money, mom and dad, it's—"

"We will manage," Cece assures him. "You are going to college. If it's New York, if it's here, whatever. You're going."

"Don't make me bring out the sick dad card," Bullfrog teasingly warned.

Eli leans back in his chair. "Toronto then," he says. "TU so I can still be here."

"Perfect," Cece agrees. "Not only will you be close to us but you can still see Clare."

Eli looks over to Clare and when a slight smile appears on his lips, Clare smiles back. When Eli turns back to his parents he says, "Damn, I hate the fact that you three are some kind of team that assembles behind my back to make me change my mind."

"You wouldn't have us any other way," Cece cooes, pinching her son's cheek. The parents walk out of the room, their hands going together. Eli watches them happily as they left the room smiling at each other.

Clare walks up to him slowly, hesitant, but Eli scoops her up into a close hug, his eyes closing as he wraps his arms around her.


	3. Defying Gravity pt 1

**Note: This is NOT related at all to "I'll Stand By You" (the first two chapters). I will repeat, this is where I will post episodic type writing. The first two were called "I'll Stand By You" with Eclare, Maya and Katie, and Tristan and Owen. This is "Defying Gravity pt. 1", unrelated to I'll Stand By You, like how Degrassi episodes tend to be. Thank you for the reviews on the first two and I hope you enjoy this one! I wanted to write for Marisol and Connor and it took me a while to figure out the plot for Luke but here it is! I really like this, I hope you do too.**

**P.S. Making plots flow is HARD. The timing has to be right so I can't have Connor in class then Marisol at home then Luke in class too. This was TOUGH.**

_**Episode description: Marisol's parents want her to go to their alma mater but she has her own college plans. Connor is paired up with a new lab partner who he quickly crushes on but there's one problem: their height differences. Luke goes in search for an English tutor to ace his final exam to avoid repeating Grade 11 English.**_

**Thanks for reading and please take the time to review!**

* * *

**DEFYING GRAVITY PT. 1**

Marisol types on her laptop profusely, all dressed and ready for school, but still not done with her English paper. As she looks back and forth from her notes and the laptop screen she hears her mom call her.

"Marisol! Come eat breakfast!"

"In a sec!" Marisol says back loudly. She hits save and waits for her paper to print, smiling once she has all three papers in her hand. She puts the paper into her binder and runs downstairs.

"Marisol, come and eat," her father gently orders from the dining table and reading the newspaper.

"I need to meet with Simpson before school starts and—" Marisol starts to say but her mother holds up a hand.

"You need a break, I heard you last night at 2 AM still doing homework. Just have a little bit of breakfast," her mother says. Her soft expression turns strict and Marisol slumps to the table, dropping her backpack by the doorway.

Her mother, a huge smile on her face, starts scooping some scrambled eggs onto Marisol's plate. "So honey," her dad sets the paper down on the table. "We haven't had the chance to talk about college."

Marisol's eyes darts back and forth while she holds her fork still in her mouth. "Oh right!" her mother says enthusiastically, finally sitting down. "Oh, you are going to love University of Toronto!"

"Best times of our lives," her dad agrees, reaching out for his wife's hand. He turns to Marisol. "Maybe you'll meet your future spouse there like how your mom and I met."

"Maybe," she mumbles over her food, eyes avoiding her parents'.

Her parents notice her disinterest. "Mare," her father says. Marisol cautiously looks up. "You did pick U of T right?"

"Yeaaaah," Marisol replies slowly, a fake smile appearing on her lips. "Totally."

"Good," her mother says happily. "With all of the Varsity Blues clothes we've given you, of course you're going there! Best college in Canada too and you earned a partial cheerleading scholarship! We're keeping the pattern going!"

Marisol continues to fake smile as her parents show their excitement over her attending U of T. She sits back in her chair and looks over to her backpack, hoping that her parents wouldn't be able to see the Ryerson pin she had.

* * *

"Okay everyone! Our last project of the year will be a partner one and _I _will be assigning the partners."

Connor sighs in his seat as his science teacher starts walking around the room and assigning partners. He remains quiet until the teacher says his name. "Andrea, you will be working with Connor."

He turns his head, had no idea who Andrea was, until the teacher walked away and reveals a dark haired girl sitting two stools away from him. She smiles at him and moves over to the closest stool.

"Hey," Andrea says to him. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," he replies simply.

"Your topic will be radioactive isotopes," the teacher says to them, handing over a piece of paper. "Research, make a presentation, due next week!"

Both Connor and Andrea nods and turns to each other. "So…" Andrea slowly says, opening her textbook. "Do you know much about radioactive isotopes?"

"Yeah, they're easy to understand," Connor replies, opening his own textbook. "Basically there's just isotopes that have an unstable nucleus."

Andrea jots it down onto paper. "Okay," she says as she writes. "Do you maybe want to work on this sometime out of school?"

Connor looks at Andrea weirdly, surprised by her will to work. "What?" Andrea asks, noticing Connor's strange gaze.

"Sorry," he says, turning away. "The last time I had a lab partner that actually worked was KC."

"What ever happened to KC?" Andrea asks. "Did he move?"

"Yeah," Connor nods. "He's at BC now."

"And Wesley?"

"Moved too," Connor says.

"I'm sorry," Andrea says sincerely. "If it makes you feel any better, I really like science and I'm not just gonna let you do all of the work. I do my half of the project and I expect you to do the same."

Connor finds himself smiling, a rare action around girls. His eyes move back and forth from her and his textbook and they both take notes.

.

* * *

"Before you leave please deposit your paper onto my desk! Remember, your final is next week! Oh and Mr. Baker, would you come to my desk please?"

As the students scrambles out of the room, Luke accidentally bumps into who he recognized as the school president, but he didn't know her name, so he just mumbles a sorry and earns himself an eye roll from said president. Luke places his paper down on the messy pile.

"Mr. Baker," his English teacher says sternly. "Your grade…"

Luke's face dropped and the teacher continues. "I know you were busy with the hockey schedule and I've given you many extensions but the papers you've turned in haven't been good and you've done poorly on the tests. I'm sorry but—"

"No, please," Luke pleads. "Please don't tell me that I have to repeat 11th grade English."

"You might," the teacher says honestly. "You may be able to take it in summer school but there is one saving grace."

"What?"

"The final," the teacher sighs. "Get a high A on it and you'll skim by with a passing grade. But a very high A. I suggest you find a tutor."

Luke smiles and clasps his hands together. "Thank you, I will find a tutor and I'll get an A on that final. I won't let you down."

The teacher offers an encouraging smile and Luke walks out of the room, his back immediately falling against the lockers. He places his hands over his face and mumbles into them. "How am I ace that final in less than a week?"

.

* * *

"Mare!"

Marisol turns her head and finds Mo walking up to her. "Hey," she smiles and kisses him briefly. "We have a student council meeting."

"I know, the door's locked," Mo tells her. "I can't find a custodian."

"Don't worry, I got it," Marisol brings out the key from her bag.

"My girlfriend, the one with all of the answers," Mo says proudly. He swings an arm over her shoulders and together they walk to the student council room. Marisol unlocks the door and goes to sit at her usual spot when she notices a couple on the couch.

"Ahem," she puts her hands on her hips, interrupting the makeout session occurring.

Eli Goldsworthy and Clare Edwards jump from the couch, red faced. "Sorry," Clare says sheepishly.

"You know, there's a couch in the storage room," Marisol tells them. "Go use that one, not here. There are windows here. You know, like that huge one?" She points to it and Clare blushes even more.

"We're sorry," Clare tells her again.

"Just get out," Marisol just waves her hands and goes to her seat. She hears Clare dragging Eli out of the room while she settles all of her papers down.

"Those two," Mo laughs, sitting beside Marisol. "So, end of the year bash. We need to make this huge."

Just as Marisol was about to agree, the other student council members started walking into the room. Once everyone is seated, Marisol starts the meeting.

"So, we need to have an event to say goodbye to the seniors," she begins, pointing to herself, Mo, Fiona, and the other seniors in the room. "Obviously, since it'll be our final Degrassi event, it should be a huge, meaningful thing. Ideas?"

"Well, I was thinking there should be a huge decorative wall," Fiona says. "The seniors can post pictures on it, stickers or flags for the college they're going to, or whatever they're doing after high school."

"Great idea," Marisol says while writing it down. "Capturing the memories, eh?"

"Capture the Memories," Mo repeats. "Great title. That's what we should call this bash."

"Bash? Dance? Party?" someone asks.

"Capture the Memories," Marisol says slowly. "End of the Year…Event. Let's just stick with event."

"Okay boss," Fiona teases. Marisol listens to the other members of student council, a proud smile on her face. Immersed in the activity she loves, she quickly forgets about the awkward conversations about college she's going to have with her parents.

* * *

Luke lays down on the couch, arm over his eyes, when Becky drops the copy of "Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver on his stomach. He sits up annoyed and tosses the book to the table.

"Luke, you can't ace that final if you don't pick up the book," Becky scolds him.

"I can't even get past the first chapter," Luke groans against his hand. "I just…I can't. It's boring."

"It's not Luke, it's actually a great story involving family and religion and the struggle when religion takes over a person's entire living," Becky explains. Luke's eyes practically glaze over. "If you gave it a chance you'd find this novel enlightening. I sure did."

"I don't find books _enlightening_ Becky," Luke tells her. "I've never read a book and said 'oh I'm enlightened.'"

Becky makes an annoyed face. "I'm trying to help you."

"I'm past the point of no return."

"Phantom reference? Really?"

"It's true though. I have no drive to get someone's help on this English final. And I appreciate you trying but you're my sister, it's not like I'm going to listen to you." Luke lays back on the couch while Becky glares at him.

"I'll pray for you then," Becky says, walking away. "Pray for you to get off your lazy butt and work so you won't have to repeat English, therefore ruining your summer, and possibly having to repeat 11th grade."

Luke hears Becky's footsteps going up the stairs and he reaches over for the book, making a sour face as he flips to the first page. He starts reading but after a minute he gives up once again and opts to take a nap on the couch.

* * *

"No, I'm doing the research about the fossils, you're the one doing the medical…Didn't you write it down? Well whose fault is that then?"

Connor laughs as he holds the phone to his ear as he looks up science databases for his project with Andrea. While he talks to her he is unaware that Mrs. Simpson has walked down the steps to his room holding a tray of food and Bianca trailing behind her.

"I have it written here, 'Andrea will do cancer cell research and PET scan'," Connor says. Behind him, Mrs. Simpson and Bianca exchange an amused look. "Then you obviously don't take notes well."

"Ahem," Mrs. Simpson finally makes a sound and Connor turns around with bulged eyes.

"I'll call you back," Connor says quickly into the phone and hangs up.

"Andrea?" Bianca teases, sitting on Connor's bed.

"Who's Andrea?" Mrs. Simpson asks, a very happy smile on her face.

"My partner for a project," Connor answers. "Mrs. Simpson, Bianca and I are supposed to study for the academic quiz team. Can you go?"

"Sure thing," she replies, still smiling, heading towards the stairs. She gives Bianca a sly look before closing the door.

"Soo…Andrea…" Bianca says, her eyebrows raising.

"We're supposed to be studying," Connor quickly changes the subject and takes out his trivia notebook and reads off a question. "In European affairs, for what does the abbreviation IRA stand?"

"Irish Republican Army," Bianca answers. "Now don't avoid it. Who's Andrea?"

"I told you, my partner for a project," Connor deflects. "Science project about radioactive isotopes."

"So a chemistry topic," Bianca points out. "Any chemistry going on between you two?"

"Really?" Connor says. "I don't know much about relationship jokes but I'm pretty sure that that wasn't a good one."

"Come on Connor! The only thing you and I talk about is academic team and I've been waiting for you to finally get interested in a girl and now you have! So we have to talk about it!"

"No we don't," Connor says. "And I'm not _interested_ in her. She's a girl, she's nice, we're working together. That's it."

"But I've never seen you talk and joke with a girl before," Bianca tells him. "And I get it, maybe you're not interested in having a girlfriend right now but seeing you actually show interest in a girl, I was just happy to see that. So if you say you're not interested, you're not. Let's move on. A 'Newfie' or 'Newf" was born in what province?"

Connor seems to be in deep thinking when Bianca asks him a trivia question and she snaps her fingers. "Hello? Earth to Connor."

"How do I…" Connor says slowly, not looking Bianca in the eye. "know if I like her? The last time I liked a girl was Clare in Grade 9 and that was just because she was the nicest person to me."

"Edwards? Man, the power she has over men. Must be because she has a good rack," Bianca fathoms. "But anyways, you just know. Like you're happier when you're around her or you and her just click. You'll know."

"Okay," Connor nods.

"So what's the answer?"

Connor narrows his eyes. "I just met her, I don't know if I like her yet."

"No, to the question!"

"Oh! Newfoundland. Next one."

* * *

"I want to confirm that for June 5th." Marisol paces in her room, phone at her ear, flipping a pen between the fingers of her free hand. "Okay? Great. Thank you. See you then."

After finishing the phone call, she tosses her phone to her bed and falls down onto it, letting out a stressed sigh. Her hand feels a piece of paper and she puts it to her face. It was a list of college dorm room necessities and a handwritten note in the corner said: _Let's go shopping for these soon!_

Marisol turned her head to her desk and looked at her corkboard. A U of T flag was attached to it, a very old one from years ago when she and her parents went to a hockey game, and there was also a Ryerson flag that she managed to get during a visit with Katie and her family.

She stands up to the board and crouches in front of it, taking both flags off the board. She weighs both in her hand, thinking about the offers of both schools.

"Cheer to stay here," Marisol says to herself as she lifts the U of T flag. "Or go _here_ and do Communication Studies." The Ryerson flag was in her right hand, her dominant hand, and the U of T flag just felt awkward in her possession.

"Ryerson," she says. "I have to do what I want, not what my parents want."

Marisol re-pins the Ryerson flag onto her board and leaves the University of Toronto one on her desk, wishing to avoid telling her parents about her choice. But her expression turns determined and she takes a deep breath.

* * *

Seeing Andrea sitting against a windowsill at the garden, Connor approaches her hesitantly and sits adjacent to her. Andrea smiles and turns away from the book she was reading. "Hey," she greets. "You never called back last night. I was beginning to think that you just took the project and ran."

Connor laughs at the joke. "Bianca came over, we had to study for the last academic quiz team meet."

"Bianca," Andrea says slowly. "You two are together?"

"No," Connor corrects quickly. "She's just a friend on the team. One of the few people I talk to here."

"Few? Oh that makes me wish we'd met earlier," Andrea tells him. "I don't talk to a lot of people here either even though I've been here since Grade 9." She goes back to her book while Connor stares awkwardly, not knowing how to respond. So they sit quietly together until Connor hears a familiar song.

Andrea brings her phone out of her bag and the song Connor hears becomes louder and he realizes the song. Andrea silences her phone and puts it back.

"Realm of Doom theme song?" Connor finds himself asking.

Andrea smiles sheepishly. "Yeah, I really like that game. I managed to get the audio as my ringtone."

Connor is so impressed that he doesn't even hear Andrea calling his name. He's snapped out of his thoughts when Andrea claps her hands in front of his eyes. "Earth to Connor!"

Connor shakes his head and blinks. "Sorry, just got…distracted."

Andrea tucks her hair behind her ear and turns her head down, obviously blushing. She turns back to her book while Connor continues to process all of the information. Here was this cute girl, studious, matches his dry humor, and a fan of his favorite computer game. This must be what Bianca meant about finding a girl who just "clicks" with. He definitely clicked with Andrea, judging from the fact that he constantly smiled around her.

* * *

At his locker, Luke exchanges book from his locker into his backpack while his Ice Hounds teammates were all surrounding their little locker hallway, all talking really loudly. Luke was in no mood to partake in the activity. He brings out a very plain, homemade flier that reads:

_In Need of English Tutor for Grade 11 Final Exam_

_Call or Text 555-6734_

Although it was short notice, _very_ short notice, Luke had no choice but to ask for help from someone looking to tutor. He tacks it up on the nearest bulletin board and went to put another copy on the board close to the main office. After staring at it a minute, sad that he has to resort to this, he walks away.

A hand is seen taking the paper off the board.

* * *

Coming home from another day of school, Marisol finds her parents in the living room. She goes to stand in front of the TV, blocking her parents' view of the show they were watching. Her parents start to protest but Marisol puts her hands up.

"I need to tell you guys something."

Her parents stopped talking and relaxes in their seats. "Yes Mare?" her mom asks.

Marisol placed her bag on the coffee table. "I'm not going to U of T."

Her mother gave her a confused look. "Is this a prank?"

"It's not," Marisol rolls her eyes. "I'm going to Ryerson, I already accepted."

"Ryerson?" her father stands up, not believing what was happening. "You're going to Ryerson? Marisol, U of T offered you a scholarship!"

"To cheer," Marisol says. "I don't want to cheer in college! I barely wanted to cheer in senior year but I knew that I needed to have extra-curriculars for my applications so I stayed with it. But I don't want my college career riding on the fact that I need to cheer."

"Then don't cheer! We're not making you cheer! We just want you to go to University of Toronto!" her mother tells her loudly.

"But what _I _want is to go to Ryerson, they have a better program for communication studies and I like the college better, the campus is great, I love Ryerson and that's where I want to go."

None of the Lewis' move or talk, all remain staring at one another. Marisol decides to be the first to move so she grabs her bag and heads upstairs.

"We're not done talking about this," her father says behind her.

"Yes we are," Marisol says without turning back. She slams her bedroom door and muffles a scream.

.

* * *

"I'll tell Archie that you won't be going," Mrs. Simpson takes her hand away from Connor's forehead. He's sitting up in bed, obviously down with a fever, when Mrs. Simpson hands him a cup of orange juice. "Drink up, I'll be back in a bit with medicine."

Connor nods and drinks the juice as Mrs. Simpson walks upstairs. He grabs his phone and sends a text to both Bianca and Andrea.

_Have a fever. Won't be at school._

Connor goes back under the covers when his phone beeps. He reaches over and smiles, seeing it was a text from Andrea.

_Get better! I won't drown in this project alone!_

He sets his phone back and closes his eyes to go back to sleep, still smiling.

* * *

"So, any tutor prospects yet?"

Luke spins around in the computer chair in the Media Lab to see Mike Dallas walking over to him. Luke turns back to his computer and looks at his phone. "No," he answers bitterly. "How did you even find out?"

"The number on the flier, idiot," Dallas says.

"Oh right," Luke realizes. "Well no one has answered it so I guess I'm screwed for the exam next week."

"Didn't think you'd need English tutoring. You proved yourself to be a poet with that fake love note poem you wrote for Tristan," Dallas teases.

"Just shut up," Luke says angrily. "This is serious. If I don't pass, I'll have to go to summer school and if I don't pass then, I have to repeat 11th grade."

"Sorry man," Dallas claps him on the back. "I'd tutor you because I'm pretty good at English but I haven't read the book you need to know for it. I hope someone offers to help."

Dallas walks out of the lab and Luke looks back at his phone. No text, no call, nothing yet.

.

* * *

At The Dot during the lunch break, Marisol has her head in her hands while Katie, Jake, and Mo look on. "They were so angry," she says defeated. "They've always wanted me to go to Toronto, it's _legacy_. It's their alma mater."

"This decision is for the rest of your life Mare," Katie says. "You have to do what you want, not what they want."

"I don't know, maybe Toronto will be good for me…"

"Marebear, you wouldn't shut up about Ryerson after your visit there. There's no way you would be happy at Toronto when your heart's in Ryerson," Mo replies. He takes her hand from across the table. "You just have to tell them and hope they'll like the idea eventually."

"But the next time you talk to them, just explain what you feel and…do it gently," Katie suggests. "Don't lose your cool. Just explain it to them. You have great parents Mare, they'll understand."

"Do you want tea? Calm your anxiousness down?" Jake offers.

Marisol nods her head and Jake goes to order. Marisol tries to smile and look confident but fails. Mo and Katie glance at each other in sadness and Mo continues to run his thumb on the back of Marisol's hand.

.

* * *

At a different table of The Dot, Luke sits in front of an energetic blonde. "I just _love_ the Ice Hounds," she says to him. "I was at every game, even the ones the starting line-up couldn't play in. I just love hockey."

"That's nice," Luke says. "But…you called the number on my English tutor flier."

"Oh right!" the blonde practically jumps from her seat. Luke is taken aback at the girl. He looked at her skeptically. "I'm in Grade 11 English."

"Great!" Luke says in surprise. "Will you be able to tutor me about Poisonwood Bible?"

"What?" the girl asks confused. "Oh right. The book. Um…yeah."

"Really?" Luke asks. "You sure? What's the main character's name?"

"I don't remember but it was a guy," she says with a pointed finger.

Luke almost laughs. "I've read enough of the book and listed enough in class to know that the main characters are female, the ones with point of views anyways. Look, I appreciate that you like hockey but since you can't help me…"

Luke grabs his belongings and turns to leave. Halfway out the door the girl yells to him, "Call me!" He makes a mental note to do so, since the girl was cute despite a liar, and as he walks down the sidewalk his phone buzzes in his pocket.

Looking at the text, it reads:

_Are you looking for a tutor? I'd be happy to do it. Meet me the Degrassi media lab after school._

Luke smiles and practically runs back to school.

* * *

Connor stirs awake at the sound of footsteps. Walking down to his room was Dave, holding his backpack with one hand and a bunch of books in another.

"Morning," Dave greets. "You look terrible."

Connor goes to blow his nose and sits up while Dave drops off the books onto his desk. "Here's the stuff that you missed this morning," Dave tells him. "Didn't have any lunch plans so I thought I'd come over here, your aunt always has food ready. And I thought I'd drop this stuff off. How are you feeling?"

"Bad," Connor answers. "But thanks."

"Oh, there's also a message for you," Dave brings out a folded letter from his pocket. "Andrea told me to give this to you. Didn't realize you had a girlfriend."

"I don't," Connor tells him honestly. "You didn't read the letter, did you?"

"Maaaaaybe," Dave says teasingly. "It's nothing sappy. It just says get better, she finished her part of the science project, you guys will meet up once you're better, and another get better. And a heart right after her name. Sooooo not your girlfriend, eh?"

"She could be," Connor says. "I think I like her. Do you think she could like me back?"

"Well the fact that she tracked me down to get me to give you this note, I'd say yes," Dave tells him. "So you finally like someone…age appropriate this time. I'm proud man."

"Do you think I should…ask her to be my girlfriend?"

"I don't know, do you want her to be your girlfriend?"

Connor nods. "Well then," Dave sits down in Connor's computer chair. "There's your answer."

* * *

After the final bell of the day, Luke puts his books away in his locker and goes to the Media Lab. Once there he's the only person aside from Ms. Oh who was typing away at her computer. Luke sits down at a table and brings out his phone to kill time.

When he senses someone nearing him, he looks up, eager to meet his tutor, but then his face turns to surprise. "You?"

"And you?" Clare Edwards scoffs. "You're the one looking for a tutor?"

"And you're the tutor?" Luke retorts. He looks at her up and down. "Are you even in 11th grade?"

"Yes," Clare narrows her eyes. "And I'll have you know that I'm in Advanced Grade 12 English at the moment."

"Seriously?" Luke asks impressed. "Wow. Did you read Poisonwood Bible last year?"

"I did," Clare nods, sitting down across from him. "Really great book. You're Becky's sister right so I'm guessing you're religious as well. You'd like this book."

"That's what Becky told me but I just don't like to read," Luke admits.

"Well," Clare brings out her copy of the book from her bag and motions for Luke to do the same. "You'll have to get over that until the exam is over. I'm going to tutor you."

"Really? Even after what—"

"That has nothing to do with it," Clare tells him. "You need a good grade on the exam, I happen to know the material and this could be disastrous but I want to help you. But we have to agree on two things."

"Anything."

"Okay," Clare says. "One, you take this seriously. And two, as long as I tutor you, you keep the alcohol away from me."

Luke laughs heartily and Clare starts laughing as well. "Okay, I agree with the terms." He holds his hand out for Clare to shake and she does.

.

* * *

Marisol walks into her house, thinking her parents would start yelling at her from the get-go. But instead she found her parents sitting at the dinner table talking to an adult she didn't recognize.

"Hello?" she says carefully, catching the attention of all 3 adults.

"Marisol! Come over here!" her father says happily. A skeptical look comes onto Marisol's face but she obeys. Her father puts an arm over her shoulder and pulls her close.

"Marisol, we'd like you to meet the Student Activities Director of University of Toronto," her mother says.

"Hi," Marisol says, extending her hand.

"Nice to meet you Marisol, I hear you've been accepted," the lady says.

"I was," Marisol confirms.

"Well come and sit, I'll tell you all about what U of T has to offer," the lady tells her. Marisol's father practically pushes her down into a seat.

"Listen to Mrs. Stewart, Marisol," her mom softly orders. Marisol resists the urge to glare at her parents while they walk out of the kitchen. Turning back to Mrs. Stewart, Marisol fake smiles.

* * *

Connor walks out of his house, still in pajamas and still having to wipe his nose every couple of seconds, and sees Andrea sitting at the steps. Once he closes the door behind him, she turns around with a smile he's gotten used to seeing.

"I wanted to ask you how we should present our project," she says, inviting Connor to sit down next to her. He does, keeping a bit of distance between them. "We don't have a lot of time so I thought I'd take the initiative."

"Well, a powerpoint would be good," Connor suggests.

"Okay," Andrea agrees. "I'll get on that. Just send me the information once you're ready. No rush, it's still a while until it's due."

"Thank," Connor says sincerely. "Really, I'm used to having to do most of the work. Except for this one time in English but…yeah. And the fact that I'm sick, it's—"

Andrea puts her hand over Connor's. Connor almost rips his hand away but he looks down at their touching hands instead, leaving it under her soft skin.

"I told you that I wouldn't let you do all of the work," she tells him softly.

Connor found himself wanting to lean in and kiss her, an action he'd seen too many times around his friends and the Degrassi hallways, but a sneeze stopped him from acting on it.

"Bless you," she says laughing. "You should go and rest."

Connor apologetically smiles and goes to stand. Andrea stands as well and Connor's eyes widen at how much he had to look down. Andrea looked up at him, her head tilting up at a high angle.

How had he not seen how small she was compared to him? Connor thought back to their encounters. They hadn't seen each other standing, they were always sitting. She always looked _small_ but didn't realize she was _short._

"I'll see you soon?" Andrea asks. Connor could barely listen, all he could think about was how badly her neck must've been hurting.

"Yeah," Connor answers awkwardly. "See you."

He watches Andrea walk away, turning back to wave goodbye. He waves as well and goes back into the house. His back hits the door and he looks up to the ceiling, letting out a coughing sigh.

"Was that your girlfriend?" nine year old Jack Simpson, Connor's god-brother, asks him as he walked down the stairs. Connor shakes his head no, ruffles Jack's hair, and goes to his bedroom.

* * *

"The hockey team is a _huge_ deal at U of T," Mrs. Stewart was saying. Marisol stopped paying attention a while ago though Mrs. Stewart didn't seem to notice. "Home games are like a holiday itself. And the cafeteria serves high quality food. Oh and every dorm building has a—"

"Look Mrs. Stewart, I'm sorry," Marisol just had enough. She interrupts Mrs. Stewart mid sentence and stands from her seat. "I know my parents brought you here to make me choose to go to Toronto but no, it's not helping. I'm going to Ryerson."

Her parents appear at the doorway, expression dark, and with dropped jaws. "Marisol!"

"I'm sorry but I can't be forced to do what _you _want for me when it's_ my_ life! I'm an adult!" Marisol angrily yells at them. "Did you think that bringing someone to lecture me about U of T would actually help?"

"We were thinking that you would—"

"No, I am not changing my mind," Marisol tells them. "Ryerson is what I want!"

"Then you better figure out a way to pay your tuition to Ryerson," her mother's voice is cold, her eyes dark. "If you're going to play the adult card, then you better act like it. You're on your own with the finances now."

"Mom," Marisol says in disbelief. Her mother walks away, noticeably wiping her eyes. Marisol looks to her father. "Dad, please."

"I'm sorry Mare," he says with a hard look but a gentle voice. He too walks away from Marisol, leaving her with an uncomfortable Mrs. Stewart.

Marisol fights her tears but eventually caves, covering her mouth and nose with her hands and breaking down to tears.


End file.
